Hundreds and thousands of people - young and old - set out to join countrywide protests on 21 May against Kazakhstan's vicious Nazarbayev regime. They were met with an enormous police operation to prevent them reaching the squares for the demonstrations. But, "the people have awoken!" as one campaigner put it.

Blacklisted workers have won millions of pounds in compensation after a long-running legal battle finally ended in victory. The total figure for compensation paid out by the blacklisting firms is estimated at £50 million with an additional £200 million worth of legal costs.

"It's time for a public inquiry into the policing of the miners' strike, not just Orgreave and the role of the police, but also the role of politicians." Surprisingly this comment is from Sir Peter Fahy, former chief constable of Greater Manchester Police.

Striking workers from the railways, car factories, supermarkets, hospitals, offices and banks joined students and youth in mass demonstrations across France on 28 April. Led by lycée (further education) students, the Paris march was 60,000 strong, according to the CGT union federation.

The recent verdict of the inquests into the Hillsborough football stadium disaster of 1989, which killed 96 people vindicates the 27-year campaign for the truth, which battled against establishment lies and slurs on the victims. Tony Mulhearn, who was an anti-cuts, socialist city councillor in Liverpool from 1984 to 1987, responds.

The inquest into the 1989 Hillsborough disaster has found that police unlawfully killed 96 fans. This decision vindicates the families and supporters of victims who have campaigned for years against an establishment cover-up.

Police violence must be condemned: Brutal policing caused a riot in the downtown district of Mong Kok on the first night of the Chinese New Year, 8 February. Socialists on the ground give an eyewitness report.